38 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2026
MIL/AERO007
Skunk Works® Advances
Sensor-Powered AI Fighter Intercept ⊲
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the U.S. Air
Force Test Pilot School (TPS), and industry part-
ners demonstrated sensor-driven autonomy on
a fighter aircraft. Across eight test flights, an AI
agent used targeting information from an opera-
tional sensor to execute successful air intercepts
against a live target.
SAIC Awarded New $70M Task Order for
DoW Radar Engineering and Technical
Support Services ⊲
Under this award, SAIC will deliver full lifecycle
development and sustainment for mission-ready
radar, radio frequency (RF), and microwave (MW)
systems across surface, air, and maritime domains.
This entails handling the design, engineering
support, configuration management, and overall
technical services.
Rocket Lab Awarded $397M Space Force
Flatellite Contract ⊲
Rocket Lab will launch the Flatellites on the
Company's upcoming Neutron rocket and oper-
ate them from secure facilities, providing data and
tracking information to the Space Force.
Heart Aerospace Completes First Flight
of Largest Electric Aircraft ⊲
The flight took place on Wednesday, Aug. 12,
2026, at Heart's X1 flight-test base at Plattsburgh
International Airport in Clinton County, New York.
The company's X1 demonstrator aircraft, spanning
106 feet, measuring 76 feet nose to tail, and weigh-
ing more than 25,000 pounds at takeoff, X1 is the
largest battery-electric aircraft ever flown.
Koh Young America Promotes Ramiro
Mora to Lead Service and Applications in
Mexico and South America ⊲
In his expanded role, Ramiro will lead the regional
service and applications teams, creating closer
alignment between technical support, process
development, customer training, process optimiza-
tion, and long-term customer success.
Sikorsky to Integrate MATRIX™ Autonomy
into BETA Technologies' MV250 ⊲
Sikorsky and BETA formally agreed to this initiative
earlier this month, and within two weeks, MATRIX
autonomy was successfully integrated and flying
BETA's CX300 conventional takeoff and landing
aircraft, leading directly into MV250 development.
UK Invests in Homegrown Space Tech
to Boost National Resilience ⊲
British businesses, universities, and researchers
will receive access to more than £62 million in
government funding to develop homegrown space
technologies, boosting the UK's national resilience
and helping protect its independence in a strategi-
cally vital sector.
Vertical Aerospace Makes History With
First Public eVTOL Transition Flight at
Farnborough International Airshow ⊲
At 1:46 p.m. local time, in front of a global audience
of aerospace leaders, regulators, operators, and
media, Simon Davies, Vertical's Chief Test Pilot,
flew Vertical's full-scale prototype, completing a
transition flight by moving from vertical take-off to
wingborne cruise and back to vertical landing.
Raytheon UK Unveils Sovereign,
Digitally Engineered Precision Weapon
Red Kite ⊲
Developed with a consortium of British defence
partners, Red Kite is an affordable, highly deploy-
able precision weapon that advances the UK's
ability to rapidly scale critical stockpiles. Using
advanced digital modelling technologies, the
effector quickly moved from concept to prototype.
Defense Speak Interpreted: Will Defense
Become a Totally New Supplier for Drone
Electronics? ⊲
"When I read recently that Tobyhanna Army Depot
would begin manufacturing up to one million
circuit cards annually for military drones, I immedi-
ately wondered whether this opens a whole new
chapter of volume electronics manufacturing within
Defense," writes Dennis Fritz in his latest column.
